You're Not Alone
by faz8888
Summary: Little Cato has a nightmare and he woke up all alone. Well...At least he thought… (This story is set after season 2 episode 4) Little Cato and Ash :)


**YOU'RE NOT ALONE**

Ash slowly opened her eyes. She was thirsty. Really thirsty! Her throat felt really dry and she knew that she wasn't going to fall back to sleep unless she got herself some water. Reluctantly, Ash got out of bed.

'Why does the kitchen have to be so far away?' Ash asked herself as she walked out of her bedroom door. Yawning, she grudgingly began to walk down the dark hallway. Ash rubbed her eyes as she neared Little Cato's room. She was so tired!

Then she faintly heard sounds coming from his room. Instantly more awake, Ash wondered if she should go in and check on him or not, Ash stopped in front of his door. Listening closer, she confirmed that the sounds were coming from Little Cato.

Ash looked down the hallway leading to the kitchen and then back at Little Cato's door, Ash sighed. She had made up her mind. Silently, Ash opened the door.

Ash peeped inside, just to check if he was alright. She squinted through the dark and was slightly surprised to see Little Cato tossing and turning in his sleep. Ash knew straight away what she was going to do. She couldn't leave him like this! She had to help him.

Ash closed the door behind her and soundlessly walked towards Little Cato's bed. Through the darkness, Ash could clearly see that Little Cato wasn't ok. His face held a pained expression and he was constantly moving around. He then let out a small whimper.

'He must be having a really bad dream.' Ash thought to herself as she looked down at Little Cato's sleeping form.

She couldn't bare to see him like this. He had helped her through many times when she felt she was alone and everything was helpless. He had always been so strong considering all that had happened to him in the past. It hurt her to see him looking so upset and alone. When Little Cato had told her he had been alone, locked in a prison cell for 3 years, she had been truly shocked. She couldn't believe how much stuff he had been through, yet he still stayed optimistic and cheerful, well…most of the time.

Ash looked down at his face. Knowing what she had to do, Ash began to gently shake Little Cato awake. Little Cato turned to face away from her after mumbling, "No…Please…Stop."

Frowning slightly Ash shook him again, this time with a little more force. Wincing, Little Cato turned around to face her again. "Little Cato. Little Cato. It's me, Ash." She whispered as she continued to shake him.

Little Cato then stopped moving altogether making Ash slightly nervous. Then, without warning, he shot up and screamed, "NOOOO!"

Little Cato was shaking uncontrollably. He breathed heavily for a moment as his eyes rapidly swept across the room. Then Little Cato burst into tears.

A few seconds later, Ash popped up from where she had just fallen on the floor. She looked at Little Cato for a few seconds, both shocked and surprised by his current state.

"Little Cato?" Ash whispered, hesitantly.

This made Little Cato jump slightly and make a strange hissing noise. Looking to his left he saw Ash gazing at him, concern and worry evident in her eye.

"A-Ash?" Choked out Little Cato in disbelief. Quickly realising he was crying, the young Ventrexian hastily tried to wipe away his tears. He hated crying in front of anyone.

Ash looked at him sympathetically, sure she had bad dreams, but she had very rarely been brought to tears by them. And she was sure she had never cried this hard over one.

Ash sat at the end of his bed. She had no idea what to do! She continued to look at Little Cato who had buried his head under his arms. If he did this to hide the fact that he was crying, he wasn't doing a great job.

Ash felt guilty for sitting there doing nothing to help him, but her mind had gone absolutely blank upon seeing him in this condition. Then to both her relief and anxiety, an idea popped into her head.

Ash looked nervously at Little Cato. 'What would happen if I did h-hug him. What if he just pushes me away! What if he doesn't like hugs or ME! WHAT IF HE HATES ME SO MUCH THAT HE JUMPS OF THE BED AND RUNS, JUST TO GET AWAY FROM ME! Ash thought to herself, apprehensively.

Ash quickly willed away her negative thoughts. Deep down she knew that Little Cato would do none of those things and a hug was exactly what he needed at the moment.

Ash moved closer to him, making Little Cato look up. He looked so defeated and if she was reading him correctly, guilty?

Little Cato continued to stare at Ash and Ash stared right back at him making him feel nervous. Then to his utter astonishment, Ash leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. Little Cato sat, frozen.

'ASH IS ACTUALLY HUGGING ME!' Little Cato screamed in his head. His brain seemed to have left on a vacation in the time he needed it most. Little Cato knew he wanted, wait no, NEEDED a hug right now. But he was just so shocked she had been the one to hug him.

Finally coming back to reality, Little Cato began to relax. He looked timidly at Ash, who was still hugging him. He was so lucky to have her. Then Little Cato shyly hugged her back.

Ash blushed as she felt Little Cato's soft arms wrap around her. She was just about to let go of him, when he didn't hug back, fearing the worst. But she was slightly shocked when he did.

'How is he so warm and fluffy?' Ash asked herself as she continued to hug him. She didn't ever want to let go.

Abruptly, flashes of the nightmare came back to Little Cato and it was all too much for him.

Quite suddenly, Little Cato began to cry once more.

"It's ok." Said Ash, softly as she began to rub his back. "It was just a bad dream."

Little Cato now couldn't think of anything but his nightmare. It had felt so real. And the worst part was it had been all _his _fault.

Ash could feel Little Cato shaking, badly. She felt so useless. She wished she could help him more, but she knew she couldn't. All she could do was be there for him and comfort him.

To Ash's relief, Little Cato began to calm down a bit. Ash snuggled up against him. He was _so_ soft, _so_ warm, _so_ fluffy. If she hadn't been in this situation, she would have probably fallen asleep within seconds.

Little Cato breathed in the scent of Ash's hair. How it smelt so good, he would never know. Little Cato sighed peacefully. It seemed to calm him down and stop him from thinking of his nightmare.

A few moments later, Little Cato reluctantly pulled away. He felt much better now thanks to Ash. He couldn't believe how nice she was being. She was so amazing.

"T-Thanks, Ashy." Said Little Cato, his voice slightly shaky from crying so much. "I-I needed that."

Little Cato gave Ash a grateful smile as he absentmindedly scratched behind his neck in embarrassment. He still couldn't believe he had broken down like that, in front of her.

_"What did you call me?"_ Said a low, menacing voice from above him.

Little Cato let out a small, frightened "meow" as he quickly backed away, his eyes wide in shock and alarm. He was still quite shaken from his nightmare and he definitely wasn't expecting that.

Ash stared at him in surprise and guilt as her thingy thing slowly faded away. She hadn't aimed to startle him, she just wanted to remind him to call her by her real name.

"I'm sorry." Ash whispered, softly as she put a hand on Little Cato's shoulder. Little Cato flinched at her touch, but relaxed slightly after a few moments.

"I-It's a-alright." Little Cato replied as he tried to calm himself down. "I-I'm just still a little j-jumpy from my nightmare.'

"Do you want to talk about it?" Asked Ash.

Little Cato froze, the only thing moving was his eyes, which were darting speedily around the room.

"You don't have to if you don't want to!" Ash exclaimed, quickly, immediately regretting asking.

This made Little Cato calm down a little and lock his gaze on Ash. He knew he could trust her, and he also knew that he would feel a lot better once he told someone about it.

"No, I-I want to…" Said Little Cato looking down at his paws. It had been a REALLY BAD nightmare and it was going to be hard for him to tell it all to her.

Taking a deep breath, Little Cato looked up. _"Well…You, Gary, Fox, Clarence, my dad: A-Avacato and I were in a battle against the Lord Commander's army on a planet, I've been to once before but can't remember the name of…Anyway, we were in an intense battle and everyone had guns. We were outnumbered, 6 to over 100." _

_"Within the first thirty seconds after the battle started, Clarence ran back to the ship, saying something along the lines of, 'his life was more important than ours.' This left only the 5 of us to fight the hundreds of the Lord Commander's army. We were doing an ok job, considering there were so many against us and none of us had gotten hurt."_

_"Then I-I didn't notice someone who was aiming his gun at me from b-behind." _Little Cato told her, his voice getting shakier. _"I looked b-behind me sensing that something wasn't r-right. And then the person p-pulled the t-trigger. I d-didn't have enough time to d-dodge the bullet. A-And then my d-dad, h-he h-he…" _

Ash could guess what happened next. She gasped in shock. Little Cato had been looking at his paws the whole time he was telling the story and she was surprised when he looked up at her. "_H-He j-jumped in f-front of m-me b-before the b-bullet h-hit me and f-fell to the g-ground." _

_"I-I forgot all about the b-battle and knelt down to h-help him. He seemed r-really b-badly injured. And there was blood. So much blood. I t-tried to h-help him, but n-nothing seemed to work. Then he opened h-his eyes and told me that he l-loved me. H-He sounded s-so w-weak. A-And t-then…A-And t-then h-he…..died…" _Little Cato couldn't go on. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes again, but he tried his best to hold them back.

Ash's eyes were getting watery too. Ash put one arm around Little Cato's back and pulled him closer to her. Ash looked at Little Cato, who now had silent tears falling down his face. Ash decided to stay quiet and wait for him to calm down.

Little Cato soundlessly wiped away his remaining tears deciding he should go on. He had already gone this far, he couldn't stop now.

Ash let go of Little Cato who seemed a little bit better than he did before. She was then surprised when Little Cato opened his mouth to speak. There was more?

_"I was so shocked and sad that I stayed next to my dad. But I turned around when I heard a loud shout from behind me. It was G-Gary." _

"No…" Ash exclaimed in horror.

The Ventrexian just nodded in response, once again looking down at his paws. Ash couldn't believe how bad Little Cato's nightmare had been. She was so thankful that she had come to check on him when she did. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she woke up from a nightmare like his and had to suffer alone with no one to comfort her. Ash shuddered just thinking about it.

_"Gary had been s-shot. His wound wasn't as bad as my d-dads, so I decided to continue shooting the bad guy's so his condition didn't get worse. There were so many lasers and bullets coming from every direction, so I had to stay focused on the battle. But after what had happened, my hands were shaking so much that my aiming wasn't too great. I gave myself a split second to look at how you and Fox were doing. A-And I saw F-Fox fall to the ground." _

He felt so cruel saying this in front of Ash, but he would feel even worse if he lied to her. However, he didn't mention all the details. Little Cato took a second to look at Ash. Just as he had expected, Ash looked shocked and quite stunned.

_"You immediately ran over to help him and I would have too if it hadn't been for the few left of the Lord Commander's army, still shooting. I started to shoot them down one by one, but noticed someone was aiming their gun at you. I tried to shoot the person, but missed. A-And the p-person s-shot…y-you t-too…" _Little Cato said, letting a few tears fall from his eyes before continuing.

_"I-I had felt so a-alone. E-Everyone I loved was g-gone and it was a-all my fault. A-And then I-I woke up." _Little Cato finished his story, finding it hard to avoid Ash's worried gaze.

Ash didn't know what to say. That was the worst nightmare she had ever heard of. Little Cato wasn't crying anymore, but he had the same broken look from when he had woken up from his nightmare. It scared Ash a little. Ash couldn't help but notice Little Cato was avoiding her gaze. Ash reached out her hand and gently turned his tearstained face to look at her. "Little Cato. Even if what happened in the dream really did happen, none of it would have been your fault."

Little Cato didn't answer and turned his gaze downwards.

"It was an unfair fight." Ash finished, firmly.

Little Cato sighed still looking down. "The dream reminded m-me of… when my dad died." Little Cato said, sadly as his ears lowered.

Ash peered at Little Cato, solemnly. She didn't know much about Little Cato's father. The only things she knew were that he was a great guy and everyone who knew him missed him a lot. She was slightly curious to hear more about Avocato, but she found it hard to stay focused while Little Cato was so sad.

_"Gary and my dad had just freed me from my prison cell after 3 years of waiting. I always knew my dad would save me, but I didn't know that it would take that long. I remember being so happy to see him again. We escaped from the Lord Commander together and found our way to Gary's and my dad's ship. My dad had hugged me for the first time in 3 years then and I could never have been happier. And t-then…"_

Ash listened fearing what would happen next. It seemed all good so far, so what could have happened to him.

_"Then my dad found a b-bomb on my back…The Lord Commander must have p-planted it there…" _

Ash gasped in pure shock and horror. Out of all the things that could have happened, she wasn't expecting that!

_"H-He took the b-bomb of my back and knew it w-was about to explode." _Little Cato continued, his voice getting more unsteady by the second._ "H-He then ran away a-and j-jumped out of the s-ship with the b-bomb in h-his hands. T-The b-bomb t-then exploded…a-and h-he…" _

Little Cato couldn't go on. He couldn't hold back his tears. "I-I m-miss him so m-much!" Little Cato confessed as he cried, softly. "A-And it was a-all my f-fault!"

"No, it wasn't!" Ash stated, immediately.

"I-If I noticed the b-bomb sooner, I-I could have saved him! I-I was meant to die…N-Not him." Cried Little Cato, shaking with sobs.

"He sacrificed himself to save you. It was his choice and he did it because he loved you." Said Ash, softly as she gently grabbed Little Cato's paw and gave it a light squeeze.

Little Cato stayed quiet as tears continued to roll down his face. He knew it wasn't _entirely_ his fault that Avocato died. He just felt like he could have done something to save him.

Little Cato decided to try and think of something else. Anything else! Little Cato looked at Ash who was still holding his paw. Little Cato felt the urge to let out a giddy smile, but he suppressed it as best as he could. She had been so kind and helpful. He couldn't thank her enough for everything that she had done tonight. Little Cato leaned forward and hugged her.

Ash was stunned for a moment before she hugged him back. They stayed like this for a few more seconds before Little Cato pulled away and gave her a warm smile. "Thanks for everything, Ash. You're amazing."

Ash blushed and replied, "You're welcome. I'm just happy I could help! You've helped me heaps of times before!"

Little Cato's smile got slightly bigger as he began to feel more relaxed than he had all night.

Little Cato let out a yawn and looked at the time on his alarm clock. It was 5 am!

Ash got off Little Cato's bed, making Little Cato slightly anxious. She wasn't going to leave, was she?

"W-Where are you going?" Asked Little Cato, trying to keep any signs of fear out of his voice.

"You look really tired, so I think I should leave so you can get some sleep." Ash answered walking towards the door. "Goodnight, Little Cato!"

Little Cato, looked around his room. He didn't want to be left alone again! He hated feeling alone!

Little Cato then painfully remembered the time after Avocato had died. He had felt the most alone then. When he'd been imprisoned, he'd always had hope that his dad would come and save him. But after his dad died he seemed to have no hope left in him. So he isolated himself from everyone else. He'd been so sad and alone, but he'd been too stubborn to admit it to anyone, as a result, he suffered.

Little Cato didn't want to feel any of that again. Putting his dignity aside, Little Cato took a deep breath.

"Wait! Ash! C-Can you s-stay with me? I-I don't want to be a-alone again." Little Cato stuttered, shyly.

Ash turned around truly shocked. When she saw Little Cato she was even more surprised to find that he now looked the opposite of calm and was giving her a pleading look.

After a few seconds of silence, Ash smiled and nodded. The truth was she honestly didn't really want to leave Little Cato either.

Little Cato sighed in relief as Ash walked back over to him. She then sat down on the opposite side of his bed and lay down, not bothering to get into the blanket. Little Cato lay down too.

Ash couldn't help but notice Little Cato seemed more relaxed than before, but still slightly tense. Ash instinctively reached her hand out and began to pat him on the top of his head.

Little Cato usually pretended to be annoyed by this, but right now he couldn't help but smile at her. Little Cato closed his eyes and started to purr as Ash continued to pat him. This made her giggle.

Little Cato opened one eye and gazed at her warmly. Ash giggled again and said, "You really are the cutest and fluffiest thing in the galaxy."

Little Cato chuckled at this as his cheeks heated up.

Ash continued to pat Little Cato and Little Cato continued to purr, softly. Little Cato finally fell into a peaceful sleep a few moments later. Ash smiled to herself as she listened to Little Cato's adorable purring, patting his soft fur. He was too cute and fluffy for his own good!

Ash yawned as her eyes grew heavy and in under a minute she had fallen asleep too.

* * *

**THE END**


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